New York Comedy Festival brings shows to Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx

The New York Comedy Festival kicks off on Tuesday, Nov. 1. Above, comedian Jon Stewart performs at the New York Comedy Festival and the Bob Woodruff Foundation's ninth annual Stand Up For Heroes event on Nov. 10, 2015 in New York City. Photo Credit: Getty Images for Academy of Moti / Ilya S. Savenok

And think big they have, with 60 shows and events planned at 20 locations throughout the city this year and a renewed focus on venues outside of Manhattan to supplement mainstays such as the Beacon Theatre and the 92nd Street Y.

“New York is pretty much the capital of the world and one of the most creative cities in the world,” said Caroline Hirsch, the founder of Carolines on Broadway, who created the festival. “Here we have so many different types of people, and different venues for them to perform.”

On Saturday, for example, the popular live comedy show “Big Terrific,” featuring Jenny Slate, Max Silvestri and Gabe Liedman, will be at BRIC House in Brooklyn. Another show, “Dark Spots,” can be found at The Creek and The Cave in Long Island City, and the live comedy sketch show “The Sketch Down” will be at The Point in the Bronx.

Hirsch said spreading the festival around the city is a win for the performers and the fans who asked for closer shows.

Hirsch said the New York comedy community has always banded together to help the needy and the festival’s opening night Nov. 1 is the biggest showing of their generosity. The Stand Up for Heroes show at the Theater at Madison Square Garden will feature Louis C.K., Jim Gaffigan, Jerry Seinfeld, Bruce Springsteen and Jon Stewart and raise money for injured military veterans and their families.

Some of those service families will be in the front row for the show, which has raised nearly $40 million for the nonprofit Bob Woodruff Foundation since it started in 2007.

Hirsch hopes the festival helps enrich the city’s vibrant comedy scene and that it inspires new talent to step up to the microphone and share their work with the world.

“We feel so proud that we built this and people know about it,” she said.